Video Game Repair/Spy Hunter with background hum

Advertisement

Expert: Octane - 11/27/2012

QuestionQUESTION: Octane,
I have a spy hunter upright with two problems. The first is that it has a hum or buzz that starts as soon as the game starts. It doesn't matter if the volume controls are turned up or down. Can you give me some guidance or what components need to changed in what board or boards?
Second problem is that I have lost the pedal and steering input. It started during a game when a new car was out of the weapons truck, it immediately went left and crashed. Every car after that did the same thing regardless of how I turned the wheel. The pedal did work during this game, it just made the car crash quicker or slower. I turned the game off and on and then I had no pedal or wheel response...the car just sits there. I checked connections from the pedal and wheel and the input into the perfect position PCB. No changes.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Doug

The Buzzing/Humming is it coming from the speaker or the machine itself?

As for the problem with the steering and acceleration I say you have a problem with the Absolute Position PCB. If you put it in test mode and try and calibrate do the numbers move at all or random jump about?

Now if both things happened around the same time I would have a guess that it is one of 2 things.

First guess would be a voltage problem on your boards. Double check that your 5V is actually 5+ volts and not under.

Second guess is you have a cable connector problem between boards (Also causing voltage problems). Since Spy Hunter is a stack of boards I know a lot of those cables do degrade over time. I check and clean all connectors going between the boards (Particularly Absolute Position board) Check the cables going between these boards, sometimes they fall apart. (I think the Zaxxon ones are the worst) If you need try and replace with old computer IDE cables or something similar. If you have a multimeter you can check connectivity between boards, make sure the cables have not degraded to the point where they are cross connecting.

Hope this helps.

Octane

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Octane
Good question about the hum. I believe it is from the speakers but the volume controls are turned off.
I read somewhere that it could be a bad cap on the power board but i have no clue where or of this makes sense.

In test mode neither the pedal nor the wheel register anything. the numbers are all zeros

Thank you for your help
Doug

AnswerGday again Doug,

The hum could be electrical interference with the wire going to the speaker or something near the speaker. Because there should be no sound coming from the speaker if turned off. If the Hum gets louder if the speaker is turned up then it would be that. If not the hum could be coming from somewhere else like the power supply or monitor.

The pedal/steering wheel not registering is definitively your Absolute Position PCB not working/failing/not getting power.

Octane

Expertise

I can answer questions on Arcade or Home Console repair or modification.

Experience

Repair, rewire, modification, rebuild, restore. (I repair numerous business and private arcade/pinball machines in my area of the state. I partner with a shop that stocks older console based systems and games, I am the one that repairs them back to working order.)

Education/CredentialsHave been building, customizing and repairing all types of arcade games since 2004. I have been repairing and modifying video games since the late 80's. (Most of my knowledge is self learnt and following others that have trailblazed in the industry.)